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State wants to test 200 homes for potentially hazardous vapor

State officials told residents of the Como neighborhood in Minneapolis that they want to test 200 homes to see if vapors caused by a nearby General Mills Superfund site have breached the houses.

Recent soil tests show that the solvent gases are present in the soil in areas adjacent to the houses.

About 80 residents attended an informational meeting today in the neighborhood, where recent soil tests in a small section show that vapor levels from a common solvent exceed government health limits for indoor air.

General Mills says it will pay for the vapor testing, and the installation of a ventilation system in any home where elevated vapors are found.

Jim Drake, who has lived in the neighborhood since 1979, said the pollution that occurred decades ago happened at a time when no one understood the potential health consequences.

Vapor mapCourtesy MPCA

"At least General Mills is facing the responsibility and doing it, so that's commendable," Drake said. "But it was unfortunate contamination of our groundwater and now we have to fix it."

Some residents want state health officials to test people who have had health problems to determine if solvent vapors are to blame.

"I'm concerned because I've lived here that long, but I've also sold real estate around here to a lot of people and some of those people have had illnesses," said Coral Sadowy, who grew up in the area and bought a house there in 1990. "We don't know where all of this is coming from. Hopefully it's nothing."

State officials, however, told residents that there is not a reliable way to test people to see if vapors caused their health problems.

A second meeting is being held tonight.

Gallery

Sara Ramsden of Barr Engineering explains details of a soil vapor testing area during an informational meeting at Van Cleve Park Recreation Center in the Como neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minn. Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. As part of an ongoing investigation, residents are being asked to allow testing for the vapor in their homes around the contaminated area. The vapor is commonly known as trichloroethylene, and was an industrial solvent used by General Mills from the 1940s through the 1960s.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonView full galleryTeresa Christensen, an apartment owner near the Como neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minn., gathered information about a possible harmful soil vapor during a meeting at Van Cleve Park Recreation Center for an informational in Minneapolis, Minn. Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013. As part of an ongoing investigation, residents are being asked to allow testing for the vapor in their homes around the contaminated area. The vapor is commonly known as trichloroethylene, and was an industrial solvent used by General Mills from the 1940s through the 1960s.MPR Photo/Jeffrey ThompsonThe site of the former General Mills/Henkel Corporation research facility in Minneapolis, Minn. is the source of a potentially harmful soil vapor in the Como neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minn. As part of an ongoing investigation, Como residents are being asked to allow testing for the vapor in their homes around the contaminated area.MPR Photo/Jeffrey Thompson